After months of isolation in 2020, both of us turned to TikTok as a creative outlet for our Star Wars and Marvel cosplay content. Aus ended up creating a “duet” with one of my videos, and I thought hey! This guy is pretty cute. A few weeks of Instagram DMs later, we started dating in October of 2020. Long distance is always a bit of a challenge, but after nearly 4 years of video calls and hitting “play” on films at the same time from separate states, we finally moved in together Spring of 2024.

Now that we live together, we’ve started a lovely New Year’s tradition where we travel out to Riverside, Iowa to visit the future birthplace of Captain Kirk (yes, we’re trekkies too!). But, our favorite memory is actually attending Trekfest 2024, also in Riverside. That first summer living together, putting on our Trek uniforms and hijacking the parade, meeting Terry Farrel, and exploring the town of Riverside in full costume together was pure magic. We’re always encouraging eachother’s art.

With $20,000, we would finally be able to get engaged, and plan our dream retro sci-fi wedding, with plenty left over to help pay down the principal on our home loan. Maybe we’d even take a Star Trek cruise for our honeymoon, who knows! Life can be expensive, and it would be so wonderful to celebrate our love in a way that is tailored to us.